Did you know that weather accounts for nearly 30% of year-over-year fluctuations in retail sales? No other outside variable impacts consumer demand as frequently, directly, and meaningfully as changes in the weather.
With the winter holidays upon us, retailers have an opportunity to align promotions with weather patterns to drive significant sales growth.
Cognira, a leader in Promotion Management solutions for retailers, has partnered with Planalytics, provider of predictive Weather-Driven Demand (WDD) analytics, to empower retailers to optimize their promotional strategies using advanced weather insights. By integrating WDD analytics into Cognira’s PromoAI solution, this collaboration delivers transformative benefits for retailers:
Real-world example: Preparing for colder December temperatures
This December, colder temperatures to record-warm conditions last year are expected across the U.S. This weather shift will drive increased consumer demand for seasonal products such as outerwear, sweaters, gloves, hats, blankets, and similar items. While the impact will vary by product category, timeframe, and location, the overall trend presents a significant opportunity for retailers.
Here’s how you can adjust your promotional activities for outerwear to take advantage of this holiday ‘gift’ from Mother Nature:
To enhance the accuracy of historical sales baselines, it’s crucial to remove the influence of weather variations.This refinement allows for more precise future planning by identifying both opportunities and risks linked to weather conditions. Key adjustments may include adjusting the timing, depth, and frequency of pricing and promotional campaigns, including localized events. Additionally, weather projections can be used for scenario planning to evaluate potential impacts on sales and promotions.
Here are three strategic approaches to consider:
By aligning promotional strategies with weather-driven consumer behavior, these tactics enable you to capitalize on sales opportunities and mitigate potential risks effectively
52-Week Outerwear Demand Forecast with Weather Effects
After a promotional event, businesses can isolate the impact of weather and gain a clear understanding of their performance results. This approach ensures that all stakeholders have a unified view of the campaign’s effectiveness, providing a reliable “single version of the truth”.
For example: The chart below demonstrates an outerwear promotion that exceeded expectations due to weather-driven demand. In this case, the retailer launched the promotion during a period of heightened consumer interest in outerwear, driven by weather conditions, resulting in sales that outperformed initial projections.
Waterfall Chart: Outerwear Sales Breackdown
Short-term opportunities
Example: Cancel a bottled water promotion if a heatwave is expected, especially when vendor funding is limited.
Example: Plan for increased ice cream sales during an upcoming heatwave.
Long-term opportunities
Analyze weather’s impact on sales trends over time to plan more effectively:
Stay ahead with weather-driven insights
Integrating weather-driven demand analytics into your pricing and promotional strategies gives businesses a competitive edge. With Cognira’s PromoAI solution, this integration enhances the accuracy of promotional forecasting by up to 30%, resulting in an overall profitability increase of up to 6%.
By combining foundational data, performance metrics, and external factors like weather, Cognira and Planalytics deliver a tailored approach to decision-making that helps businesses adapt and thrive.
If you’d like to learn more or explore how this works for your organization, visit Cognira.com or Planalytics.com. You can also schedule a demo to see the solution in action and discover how it aligns with your business needs.
Get a sneak peek into what we’re bringing to NRF 2025!
Stay tuned for updates and a preview of our participation at the event
Subscribe To Our Newsletter
Get the latest updates about retail technology
Share This Post
+ More To Explore
Founded by experienced data scientists and retail experts, Cognira is the leading artificial intelligence solutions provider.
